Through proportional representation electoral systems,
like-minded groupings of voters win legislative seats in better
proportion to their share of the population. Whereas winner-take-all
elections award 100% of power to a 50.1% majority, proportional representation
allows voters in a minority to win a fair share of representation. Proportional representation describes a broad range of methods that require at least
some legislators to be elected in districts with more than one seat.

Proportional representation voting systems used in the United States include
choice voting (voters rank candidates, and seats are allocated by
efficiently distributing voters preferences using a proportional
formula), cumulative voting (voters cast as many votes as seats and can
give multiple votes to one candidate), and limited voting (voters have
fewer votes than seats). Internationally, some proportional representation systems are based on voting for
political parties, others for candidates. Some allow very small
groupings of voters to win seats; others require higher thresholds of
support to win representation. The common thread that defines proportional
representation is promoting more accurate, balanced representation of
the spectrum of political opinion. More than 100 communities in the
United States use proportional representation, the Democrats require states to
nominate presidential convention delegates by proportional representation, and
almost all emerging democracies have chosen proportional representation. This
family of electoral systems is becoming the international norm, with Iraq, Afghanistan, and the entire Eastern Bloc
being recent welcome additions to the global community of proportional representation
nations.

New America Foundation Fellow Micah Weinberg talks about ideas for a proposed California constitutional convention, including proportional voting, instant runoff voting, and decreasing the number of representatives per resident.